Reading between the lines
by AddictionLover
Summary: Pairing: Joan/Endeavour. My versions of the scene in 2x03 and 3x02 at the Thursday's house. What would have happened if Strange / Fred hadn't interrupted Joan and Endeavour's talk? Read to find out... Reviews and criticism are always welcome!
1. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER 1**

Endeavour Morse watched Mr. and Mrs. Thursday dance from the hallway, while at the same time wondering if he might ever do the same (with _his_ wife, just to be clear). He was truly happy for them and admired the fact that after all those years of marriage, they still loved each other unconditionally. Or at least, that was his impression.

His thoughts were interrupted by Sam, handing him a glass of Scotch.

"Here you go."

Endeavour thanked him and was relieved to finally have something to occupy his hands with. He always felt that urge to stuff them in his pockets.

He poured the liquor down his throat at once and turned around when he heard the sound of heels on the stairs, with the glass still attached to his lips.

Just in time to see the back of a young, beautiful, descending brunette, wearing a blue and gleaming dress that stopped just before knee-length. He didn't let the opportunity go amiss to glance at her butt, but felt guilty immediately after. She's his boss' daughter, for goodness sake!

He didn't have much time to scold himself because she was already standing in front of him.

"Where have _you_ been all night?"

"Don't ask." He sniffed, trying to keep his thoughts away from the solved case. Especially from Mr. Huggins, that horrible man. He focused entirely on Joan.

"So," she gave a nod towards the living room, "are you dancing?"

"Are you asking?" He quickly responded with a toothy smile. She laughed and Endeavour thought she looked very cute and attractive when she did. It made his heart skip a beat.

"Say that I am, hypothetically speaking of course, what would your answer be?" He noticed she took a little step forward, and he copied her. He blamed the alcohol.

"Then I would say that there are far better dancers on this property than me." He gave her a smile, never breaking eye contact.

"What if I didn't want another person?" She batted her eyelashes.

"Your wish is my command!" Straightening up a bit, he asked in a solemn tone: "Miss Thursday, would you like to dance with me?" Well, at least his tone was solemn, his facial expression was anything but...

The look in her big eyes made his heart flutter. Normally, he wasn't good at being social with women- hell, he wasn't good at being social with anyone! Of course, there were the occasional exceptions and it seemed like this was one of them.

No words were exchanged: Joan simply grabbed his empty glass, put it on the side table next to them and took his hand.

He let her take him through the hall, kitchen and finally the back door. She stopped in the middle of the grass of their back garden. It was large and well kept, someone loved gardening apparently. There were decorative lights hung in front of the wooden fence. The music was perfectly clear (Endeavour expected there was a window open somewhere) and soft light lit up the garden from inside the house.

Revelling in the beauty of it all, he missed Joan watching him like he was a mystery she was desperate to solve. After a few seconds, she gained his full attention again.

He held out his hand, eyes on each other when she laid hers in his. He drew her to him and put his hands on her waist, hers went automatically to his neck. They started dancing on the music, in what seemed like their own little bubble. The Constable could barely contain a smile.

"What are you smiling about?" She teased.

"Nothing in particular, but what about yourself? Are you enjoying this evening, Miss Thursday?"

"Of course I am, I've got you, don't I?" She gave him a wink. "And drop the 'Miss Thursday' already. Call me Joan!" He laughed out loud: she just wouldn't give up…

"It's only appropriate since you call me Morse", he half-heartedly defended himself.

"If you would tell me your first name, I'd have an alternative…"

"It's not a common name, so I'm good with Morse." They had been getting closer and closer, literally. Where there was at first an arm's length of distance between them, was now only a couple of inches left. Neither of them seemed to mind.

"Fine, but keep in mind I won't stop prying until I find out. I can be _very_ persuasive."

"I don't doubt it for a moment." In the comfortable silence that followed, Endeavour noticed his hands had unintentionally slid southwards until they were almost grazing her bum. He abruptly put them back, high on her waist.

Joan noticed the change, of course, pretty hard not to.

"What is it?" She looked up at him, but he averted his eyes.

"My apologies, I was accidentally touching you in an... inappropriate way." She was carefully reading between the lines, a skill her dad had taught her.

"You expected me to feel offended." It wasn't a question. She merely stated what signals she picked up from him.

"Eh, well… Given your reaction to Jakes in the Moonlight Rooms…" he stammered. She withdrew her hands from his neck and crossed her arms. He quickly let go of her too and uncomfortably put his hands in those bloody pockets.

"This is entirely different. Peter was a jerk, couldn't take no for an answer. From the start I realized he wasn't my type of man. It were his looks that made me go out with him in the first place."

Now Endeavour felt stupid for even asking her to dance: he just wanted to turn back the time a few minutes. Although it may have looked lonely, he was perfectly fine in that hallway. Not happy, but when was he ever?

"But I couldn't leave him standing there, could I? So I tried to make the best of the evening. And after he sneaked out when he should have helped my father -too afraid to get caught- there isn't a force on this planet that could make me go out with him again!"

That's what bothered her the most: the coward had left her dad in a dangerous situation, while Morse was there right on time, like always. She had never figured out what he was doing there, probably some secretive police work that she can't know about...

"Look, Miss Thursday," he ignored the annoyed look she gave him, "it was certainly never in my intentions to touch you anywhere in that region. Like I said, it's neither appropriate nor necessary!" He might have raised his voice slightly, not intentionally, to get his point across.

The message had arrived and for some unknown reason, Joan looked at him as if he had just slapped her in the face.

She looked at her feet and responded with tears in her eyes: "Of course, what was I thinking? Of course it's not necessary, you're right… Ehm, I guess I'll see you around, Constable, or not…"

And with that she scurried off, being inside the house before he had even time to blink.

At that point, Endeavour still hadn't figured out what he said or did wrong.

"Women!" he muttered, before heading back inside to get another drink.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

It was strange to be back. And he realised it might take a while to get used to it again. Even though everyone around him dragged Endeavour back into the whirlpool that was his everyday life -like nothing had ever happened- he still felt… out of place. Yes, out of place is exactly the term he was looking for.

Every minute of the day, he feared the police cars and their drivers, for they could take him back to that horrible place. The worst thing about his experience wasn't actually the prison, but the knowledge that there was a great injustice done to him. As a copper and a person, his greatest motivation was to prevent it, or at the very least straighten it out.

"He'll be down in a minute", Joan Thursday said while pulling out a chair. Without realizing it, she had just dragged Endeavour from the deep recesses of his brilliant, darkened mind. He quickly noticed her outfit, the blue dress she was wearing showed quite a lot of leg. Not that he complained, he thought such nice legs were a privilege to be shown to. The poor Constable practically needed to tear his eyes off of her, because she looked absolutely gorgeous with that ponytail.

"Mum says Peter is going abroad, getting married…" she started the conversation. Now that he thought of it, he couldn't remember a time when she hadn't started their conversations. Morse was her counterpart in that area: the less he had to chit chat, the better.

"Yeah, it looks that way." He couldn't contain his smile at her incredulous tone. He had never taken Peter Jakes as a husband type, let alone a proud, expectant father type.

Honestly, before Endeavour found out about his past, and saw his weakness and fear; he never took him for anything more than the jerk type. A good and loyal policeman perhaps, but still a jerk at times. How ironic, since he was now one of his best friends.

"Oh, well, there's a turn-up." He couldn't agree more, and just kept smiling. "What is she like, his fiancée?" Joan didn't ask out of jealousy, he determined, just out of sheer curiosity.

"I don't know", he replied. "I haven't met her. I only found out myself this week."

"Gosh, from what I hear, the Peter Jakes I went out with that unfortunate night, is very much different from the one he is now. Out of all the people, who'd had thought? It's incredible how much a person can change when they've found the right one, wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes, well I suppose that is what love does. It changes people for the better." She looked intensely at him after he declared that. If it had been anyone else but Joan, he would've been extremely uncomfortable by now. But at that moment, he felt something grow between them. It felt like invisible strings were pulling them closer, and a warmth spread in his chest. All he could muster was a gentle smile and stared right back into her green eyes. Or were they grey? They were beautiful none the less.

"Morse? Do you remember the night of my parents' anniversary?" Of course he did! He had often thought about it, and naturally regretted some of the things he had said. However, they had made a silent agreement never to talk about it again, like it had never happened. He tried to forget, but realised that he couldn't.

"I do, yes." He was surprised that she even brought it up. The next time they had seen each other, things were back to normal.

"Do you think I was being silly? I mean-" He was already shaking his head. "Oh, come on! Don't give me that. You were being a perfect gentleman, respecting a lady's boundaries and I put you through hell for it. I know it has been a long time since then, but still I would like to apologise. Sincerely."

"There is no need for that." When she opened her mouth to tell him otherwise, he swiftly interrupted her. "No, really, I mean it. Whatever made you react the way you did, it must have got to do something with my words. I'm horrible in a conversation, and I suspect they removed my communication skills at birth", he joked.

She sighed, her eyes cast downwards. "You really don't know, do you?"

"Know what, Miss Thursday? Joan obviously had no idea of how close he was to saying her first name, seeing as she glared at him. Endeavour just couldn't, it was the only thing reminding him that this stunning lady was also his superior's daughter.

She suddenly jumped from her chair. "It's Joan! And you _really_ don't know why I made such a fool of myself out there?" She nodded to window facing the garden. "Are you saying that you can't think of _one_ bloody reason?"

"I- I…" Endeavour was at a loss. It seemed like their little bubble was tightening, and he was completely unaware of his surroundings at that point.

"Because I like you, Morse! I like you more than any man I have ever met! You're supposed to be a bloody genius, solving every crime in Oxford. But the fact that I have feelings for you, passes you unnoticed. I thought you would've figured it out much sooner, but since you haven't, I thought it best if you knew. To avoid further questioning of my mental stability, of course."

Endeavour was paralysed: his eyes as big as saucers, blinking the whole time and his mouth slightly agape. He never saw this coming, his brain was working overtime. Joan, on the other hand, was very passionate and sadly, upset. He could see the tears pooling in her eyes.

"And no, I'm not crazy. I know that this- this… infatuation of mine is downright ridiculous, since it is clearly not mutual and…" She had tears rolling down her cheeks now. He finally stood up and offered her his handkerchief. Joan turned him away with the saddest face he had ever seen and the words: "Don't bother". She made a move to walk away and leave him, and it was then that he decided to take matters into his own hands.

He quickly took her hand and guided her to the back of the room, seemingly invisible from the doorway. He held her close, his one hand on her back and the other wiping away the fat droplets with his hanky.

"What makes you think the feeling isn't mutual?" he asked her softly when he was done.

"You- I- Just… You never-" she was stammering by now, overwhelmed by their closeness and his actions, his words, his touch…

"The Morse you see on the outside is far different from the one on the inside. The one on the outside should condemn what I'm doing right now. That's the proper, gallant one. The Morse in here however," he pointed at his chest, "wants nothing more than to prove my feelings for you. That's the reckless, passionate one. For a long time I thought only music could provoke a reaction like this, and it turns out I was wrong. You do, too."

Endeavour's face was more open and soft than Joan had ever witnessed. He wore a smile that was full of kindness, one that spread out to his eyes. He put both his arms around her waist while she cradled his face in her hands. She was beaming and her teeth shone like white pearls in her smile.

"I don't know what to say."

"Haven't we said enough yet, my dearest Joan?" he boldly asked. Joan gasped almost unnoticeable.

"Indeed we have." She moved her hands from his cheeks to tangle them into his curly hair, at the back of his neck.

"Then let's stop talking", he whispered against her lips. He pulled her only an inch closer, made their lips connect and feel each other. Although none of the two had spoken the word yet, the _love_ and the passion was flowing back and forth between their locked lips.

When they had to stop to take a breath, the pair still didn't separate for more than half an inch.

"Endeavour", he whispered in her ear, his swollen lips ghosting around its shell. She knew immediately what he meant by that. She laughed happily and kissed him again.

"You're right: that is _not_ a common name."

From the doorway, Fred Thursday watched the couple in love with nothing less than a joyous feeling. They looked so perfect together. Two of the people he cared about most, happier together than apart. It reminded him of his younger years, with his Win. Silently he walked on to find his darling wife, and show her crime could wait for a few more minutes.

* * *

I hope you enjoyed that! It's been almost a year since I wrote any fanfiction, but seeing Arcadia last night gave me inspiration.

I don't know if I'll continue this but reviews, opinions and critcism are very much welcome. Also, if you find any grammar or spelling mistakes, please point them out. English isn't my mother tongue, but I try to improve my skills daily.

Have a great day!

XXX AddictionLover


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